A Comparison Of Henry Thoreau And The Mexican-American War

Henry Thoreau and the Mexican-American War

What is war? War is a conflict between two societies. That’s exactly what the Mexican-American War was, a conflict between two societies, The United States and Mexico. The United States was being greedy and wanted to expand to the Pacific Ocean. What was it for the United States to gain this much land, what was the purpose of starting this fight? When Texas gained its independence from Mexico, the United Sates didn’t want them as a part of the Union because the Northern states were against adding another state that housed slaves. There was also a border conflict between Mexico and the United States. President Polk thought it was a good idea to move American troops beyond the border, which caused Mexico to fire first. Henry Thoreau, an essayist, was best known for his expression of opinion towards President Polk, The Mexican-American War and slavery. Thoreau hated everything that the President stood for and was against the Mexican War, resulting in his outward protest towards the war through his refusal to pay taxes. He spent one night in jail as well to express his protest towards

the war, which ultimately inspired him to write the essay, “Civil Disobedience.” Thoreau also felt that a true citizen should follow his own actions and not those of the government. “How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today?” In my opinion, he cannot become a man without some form of disgrace associating itself with the process. “I cannot, for an instance, recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave’s government also.” (Jacobus 308) For example, how can a government treat one group of people with respect and make sure that they are taken care of by allowing laws to help benefit mankind but then at the same time treat another group of people like they weren’t even human. How can you do both, how can you be one way and then turn another way at the same time? Thoreau, wrote about the topics of the Mexican War and slavery throughout his essay. He made sure you understood how important these two where to him and how he deeply felt.
The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) made history by being the first war where its battles were fought on foreign soil. Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant both thought the war was an unnecessary conflict. President Polk, on the contrary, felt that his reasoning in engagement was logical and beneficial to this country. It was said to be “Polk’s War” and the goal was to expand America to the Pacific by taking over half of Mexico’s territory. “It was the first battle for Ulysses Grant, George McCullum and Robert E. Lee. It was a clash of politicians versus soldiers that dramatically changed the fortunes of the two major countries” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjUEBDOOSDM&list=PLTFbJbrcw45YjiTbNvkkYQtlThodrk_0G).
Polk believed that it was our “Manifest Destiny” to have America expand into Mexico’s territory along the Pacific. There was a huge difference of opinion in boundaries between America and Mexico relating to the accuracy of the location of the border for the two countries. Mexico claimed the Nueces River to be the location of the border, while America proclaimed the Rio Grande was the border. President Polk offered Mexico 30 million dollars in exchange for Mexico’s northern territory, in large part due to his lack of respect for the country. President Polk sent Congressman John Slidell to further negotiate a deal with Mexico in private. The news about the deal reached those in power of Mexico before the Congressman could meet with the Mexican government and they asked that the Congressman to leave without completion of the exchange. The Mexican government and its people felt some type of way about this deal. How can you offer to buy someone’s home and not have a place for them to go? It’s like the landlord coming to you and saying you have 30 days to move because I have family that needs a place to live. So now my family and I are left with nowhere to go and not enough money to even consider a new place to live.
The Mexican-American War began under the command of General Zachary Taylor, who returned with 2,000 plus Americans and built several bases and forts throughout areas of battle, strategically including a fort along the Rio Grande. Though Mexico had 3,000 plus soldiers and took the first shot, they were still not prepared for war. They lacked superior artillery (flying artillery), and for that reason America defeated the Mexicans at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Mexico lost over half of its territory. The battles may have ended, but the war was just beginning.
On May 11, following many of the great battles of this conflict, Polk addressed the U.S. Congress stating that the “cup of forbearance has been exhausted, even before Mexico passed the boundary of the United States, invaded our territory, and shed American blood upon American soil.” Two days later, on May 13, Congress declared war, despite opposition from some northern lawmakers. No official declaration of war ever came from Mexico.”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjUEBDOOSDM&list=PLTFbJbrcw45YjiTbNvkkYQtlThodrk_0G)
“With the losses adding up, Mexico turned to old standby General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the charismatic strongman who had been living in exile in Cuba. Santa Anna convinced Polk that, if allowed to return to Mexico, he would end the war on terms favorable to the United States. But when he arrived, he immediately double-crossed Polk by taking control of the Mexican army and leading it into battle. At the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847, Santa Anna suffered heavy casualties and was forced to withdraw. Despite the loss, he assumed the Mexican presidency the following month.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjUEBDOOSDM&list=PLTFbJbrcw45YjiTbNvkkYQtlThodrk_0G)
Polk was not a man that expressed much sympathy. He was unsure, sneaky, self-righteous, devious, and not very sociable. However, he was also a visionary, and he caught the imagination of the American people with his vision of an America expanding from the Atlantic to the Pacific, which he used to win his presidency. Polk was not one to cause destruction and during his time in office he served as an instrument of the people. “During his time in office, U.S. President James K. Polk oversaw the greatest territorial expansion of the United States to date. Polk accomplished this through the annexation of Texas in 1845, the negotiation of the Oregon Treaty with Great Britain in 1846, and the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, which ended with the signing and ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848. These events brought within the control of the United States the future states of Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Washington, and Oregon, as well as portions of what would later become Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana.” (history.state.gov)
As we enter the late 1840’s, slavery becomes the focal point of America, ultimately causing a division in American society. “There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets and say they know what to do and do nothing; who even postpone the question of free trade, and quietly read the price-current along the latest advices from Mexico after dinner and, it may be, fall asleep over them both.”(Jacobus). Here Thoreau is expressing the point that there are many who don’t agree with slavery but sit back and do nothing about it. How can you sit back and watch wrong being done but say nothing, in my opinion you are agreeing with them? When you don’t agree with the way things are being done it’s better to say something. It’s ok to voice your opinion, it’s ok to speak your mind, someone must stand up and make a difference. Every man should be free to make their own opinion about whatever may be going on in their lives or the world. Who is another man to tell another man on how to live their life? How can one sleep well at night knowing that they have such power over another and then treat them like animal?
Thoreau disliked anything about bondage, and further distained the passing of a new law in 1850, which ordered the return of any captured run-away slaves to their masters immediately. Thoreau makes a substantial political point in an essay he wrote describing this law as subjugation was unjustifiable. He felt that administration should try to give individuals flexibility, rather than transforming them into slaves. Thoreau trusted that subjugation was characteristically indecent, less from its sociological viewpoints or general savagery than for its thought than any man could be claimed by another, in this way constraining the profound development and individual accomplishments of the possessed man.
Thoreau felt that the reformers should not rely on reasoning alone but act on what was needed to make a success. Freedom is not a dream or a myth but its real, it’s not being conformed to someone else or being held down by someone’s rule or fear of you doing better than them. A slave is above all else a human first before he is sold to anyone or considered to be someone’s property. Thoreau and Frederick Douglass were similar in a lot of ways. They both were against slavery and expressed their dislike for slavery.
Slavery itself was a war between the slaves and the slaveowners, but it was more recognized a battle between the northern and southern states.

The northern states wanted to put an end to slavery but the southern states wanted to continue with slavery because it benefits them to have people working for them or doing the work they didn’t want to do themselves. This is one reason why the Civil War started. I find it unethical for people to have want to keep owning people as if they didn’t matter. Though slaves were dehumanized, there comes a time when that has to end. Keeping people down is ungodly and unethical. I never understood how slave owners slept at night. I never understood the dislike and hatered for another human. At the end of the day we were all created the same to love each other and treat each other with such kindness and

love.
War in my opinion is an uncessecary way to take what you want. Why do we have to go to the extreme with things. Why do we feel that if we cant get what we want then why not fight for it and take it. There comes a time when we don’t have to have everything. We don’t have to stick our nose where it doesn’t belong. It’s like kids fighting in school over something that doesn’t belong to them. For example, when boys fight over girls, for what she doe not belong to either one of you. You feel threathened by the other person so you want to stand up and fight to prove that your bigger and better than them. And sometimes that can blow up in your face.